Refrigerating apparatus.



W.` GL BiAC'ON'..

REFRIGERATNG, AP-'ERIATELSL M'PLIOAT101x'mmml mn'n291 mu..

1,053,345. Patented; Feb. 18,1913

Inventor Attorneys WILLIIVI C. BACON,. OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS. y

Speccaton of Letters-Iatent. PatentediFeb. 18, 1913.

iApplication filed .Tune 29, 1911. Serial No. 636,653.

To all whom t may concern:

ABe it known that I, WiLLIAM C. BACON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Refrigerating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in a refrigerating apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus devised to employ ice and salt to produce a brine, the main object being to retain the brine upon and around the ice and the ice down in the brine so as'to-ll the .interstices between the pieces of ice, and thus produce the proper refrigerating effect, using the minimum amount of ice and salt, it having been dis,-

covered that if the brine is retained within` the ice receptacle and Apractically commingled at all times with the ice and prevent'- y ing the ice rand brine from splashing, that a better refrigeration is produced and that' ends,

with the minimum loss inice and salt.

A further object of the invention is the provision of va follow-ing weight or cover,-

mounted within xthe ice and brine receptacle, to'follow the ice, due to its melting, so that the under surface of -said follower is at all times resting in contact and upon the upper layer of the ice and brine, the

same being, provided with peripheral con'- tact .means to closely engage the walls of the receptacle and exert sufficient friction therewith to prevent to a great extent the splashing action of the ice and brine in the receptacle due to the jars said receptacle receives when the car containing the .same rounds curves or is movingl upon a rough road bed.

' With the foregoing and otherr objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the\ invention resides in the com-V bination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it -beingunderstood that changes in the precise embodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made -within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

In the drawings-Figure v1 is a transverse sectional view through the refrigerating end of a refrigerating car, with the ypresentinvention in operation therein, the upper end of one of the receptacles being Vshown 4 in section with the weighted follower cover in the positionv it assumes when the receptacle has been replenished or refilled. Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional View through the upperportion of one of the receptacles andl the follower cover thereof. Fig. 4' is an enlarged detail sectional view through the peripheral and upper edge of said weighted cover.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l designates the car having mounted at one end and near the .top thereof the longitudinal, strips 2 and 3 respectively, to provide a means for supporting .the pad or top cover 4, which is generally used 1in refrigerator cars. Disposed in series or in batteries at this end of the car are the cylindrical re ceptacles 5, which are arranged as shown and provide the brine and ice chambers A of substantially the same area in cross section throughout their length, the said receptacles having mounted .at their lower the clean-out spouts B. Communicating with each one of said receptacles 5 and above the central' lines thereof as clearly shown in Fig. y1, are the brine outlet pipes orV conduits 6 having LJtheir branches 7 connected to the vertical pipes 8, said vertical vpipes 8 being connected in seriesv to the draw-0H pipe 9 provided with the discharge end l9. As before stated the brine is retained within these receptacles and is only drawn oif at the icingstations or replenishing points, where used in refrigerator cars, or as used as a stationary refrigerating or cold storage apparatus,

when the ice' is replenished. In orde-r to control the said draw-olf pipe 9 so that the vbrine may be removedv as desired, a'valveV 10 is employed having the ,operating wheel 11 within the car so that the same may be operated from within, or the stem 1-2 and operating wheel 13 disposed within the casl. ing 14 whose cover 15 permits the same to vopen exteriorly o f the car, to permit access tothe wheel. 'lf3 'without the necessity. of

entering the car at the replenishing or icing station, and permit the brine to be drawn from the receptacles through the pipes 8 and 9 andthe discharge pipe I9.

Asv is the custom when ice 1s placed in the'u receptacles 5 the said ice be'ing crushed or bro-ken so as to facilitate the handling thereof and the packing thereof within the chambers A of the receptacles, acertain quantity of s`altis mixed with the ice to accelerate the is 'only drawn olf i los refrigerating qualities of the ice, the said quantity being regulated according to the distance between the replenishing stations, and also the ,articles to be refrigerated.

-Mounted to have a vertical movement within thechambers A of the various receptacles are the followers or weighted hermetically sealing covers 16, each one of which comprises the circular head 17, which is preferably made-of what is known as cork board, and secured lp'eripherally to the same is the met-al casing-1.9, depending therefrom and adapted to be disposed within the receptacle. A handle 18 is provided concentrically of the head *17 whereby the device may be removed when it is ldesired to replenish the receptacle. At the lower concentric point of the metal casing 19, which provides a dead air space between it and the underside of thehead 17, is a conical weight 20,

preferably made of lead or some non-corrodible, `metal, and disposed between the ring 22 and the flange 23 of the said metal casing, is a gasket 25, the inner portion being clamped between said ring and flange by means'of the rivet 2li, said gasket having the flared outer peripheral edge 25 adapted to be in frictional contact with the inner wall of the chamber A. and provide a 'tight joint therebetween, so that as the ice melts and is thereby displaced by water, the weight 20 will at all times cause the follower device to slide downwardly and have its heavy portion 2O concentrically within andbelow the uppersurface of the ice yand brine and retain said ice so that it is covered by the brine within the chamber A of each receptacle. By this means it will be seen thatthe ice is prevented from coming in contact with the resultant air space that is formed in the upper end of the receptacle due to the melting of the ice, and that the said follower device will act as a means to prevent any splashing action within the receptacle due -to curves or roughness in the roadbed when the refrigerating apparatus is applied to-refrigerating cars.

With this form ofapparatus wherein vthe greater portion of -the ice is retained with/in the brine at all` times, the said brine and 1`ce being held substantially in a stationary po-- sition, so. that the brine is not, wasted. vIt will also be noted that in this form of apparatus that although shown particularly as used in connectlon with refrigerating cars,

that the same may be used in cold storage apparatus in stationary plants, and'on a smaller scale for domestic refrigeration, the principle of retaining the brine upon the ice Iand the ice submerged in the brine, being the main idea desired to be carried out with this form of refrigerating apparatus.

The receptacles 5 and the follower 16 may be made rectangular or of any non-circular form in-cross section and yet be within the spirit of this invention, and if desired the receptacles may be mounted singly or in series or batteries, as desired and necessary.,

, What is claimed is:

1. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a cylindrical receptacle, and means mounted 4within the receptacle and adapted at all times to be floated by the contents of the receptacle, said means forming a closure for the receptacle, andcomprising a circular disk, a semi-spherical casing carrlcd thereby, disposed at the periphery of the disk and slidably engaging the walls of the receptacle, to hermetically seal the same at such point, and a weight pendant disposed concentrically below and from the casing.

2. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of av cylindrical receptacle, and means mounted within the receptacle and adapted to at .all times be floated by the contents of the receptacle, said means forming a closure for the receptacle, and comprising a circular disk, a seml-spherical casing carrled thereby, and disposed at the periphery of the disk and engaging the walls of the receptacle to seal hermetically the same at such point, and an inverted conical weight disposed concentrically from the casing.

3. A refrigerator car having a plurality of vertically arranged ice containers in one end, each container` having an outlet intermediate its ends, a common brine outlet pipe in communication with the outlets of all containers,.and a valve for said pipe, the stem of which extends into a housing in the Side wall of the car, wherebythe valve may be manipulated from the exterior of the car.

- In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiixed my signature rin lthe presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM o. BACON.

Witnesses F. B. OoHsENRErrEn, J.- S. STEVENS. 

